More than half (65.1%) of respondents across the Middle East said they believed it was good time to be in the Middle East, according to the latest online poll series conducted by the Middle East’s number one job site Bayt.com. The latest poll ‘Change and Challenge in the Middle East Job Market: How is it Viewed?’ asked respondents whether they believed it was a good time to live and work in the Middle East. The response was positive with 42.2% of respondents saying it was a better time than ever before, 22.9% saying it was as good a time and only 24.9% saying it was not a good time.
Additionally, the poll went on to ask if respondents expected to see economic improvements from the recent changes in the Middle East. Not surprisingly, post-revolution Egypt proved to be the most optimistic with 56% saying they definitely expected improvements. Overall, in the region the sentiment was also similar although less pronounced with 50% of respondents saying yes while only 15% said no.
The respondents were then asked where they thought responsibility for unemployment in their countries mostly lied. The vast majority 47.1% blamed the government, while 7.3% said the private sector, 5.2% the education sector and 6.3% said it’s the responsibility of individuals themselves. One third of respondents (32.9%) felt all the above reasons applied. Respondents were also asked to what extent they thought the government held responsibility for job creation. The vast majority (92.3%) felt the government was responsible to some extent from “only slightly” to “exclusively”.
Respondents were also asked how the government could best improve employment in their countries; 10% said create more jobs in the public sector, 8.1% said improve the education sector, 5.6% said foster a better environment for business, 4.7% said improve labour laws, 17.1% said stop corruption and 3.7% said develop better transparency and legal guidelines. Nearly half (48.1%) said all of the above. Interestingly enough there was a strong emphasis on stopping corruption, especially in Egypt, coinciding with the country’s recent emergence of corruption scandals that had taken place during the previous government.
Interestingly, the vast majority of the region’s respondents (59.3%) also felt that there were many highly qualified professionals and few good jobs in their country indicating that there was plenty of untapped potential in terms of competitive professional talent. Overall however, respondents were optimistic about the future with 65.1% indicating they are optimistic about their career prospects and 64.7% saying they are optimistic about their country’s economy.
A vast majority of respondents (86.5%) also indicated they believed it was possible to dramatically improve employment prospects through better public policies. Finally, respondents in the region also felt that the internet is instrumental in aiding employment in their countries with 32.5% saying it helps to a huge extent, 22.7% saying it moderately helps and 44.8% stating it slightly helps.
